雖然我們大多數人都滿足於為自己喜歡的軟體安裝可執行檔案的“久經考驗的”過程，但真的有必要這樣做嗎？我們真的可以提取那些相同的可執行檔案而不是安裝它們，並像它們的獨立同類一樣執行它們嗎？

今天的問答環節是由SuperUser提供的，SuperUser是Stack Exchange的一個分支，是一個由社群驅動的問答網站分組。

問題

超級使用者讀者Tom Turkey想知道獨立可執行檔案和已安裝可執行檔案之間的區別：

I have noticed on Windows, at least, that you can download a direct, statically-linked executable file and launch it directly, or write your own program and execute it (even dynamically) without having to install it.

That brings me to my main point…what’s the purpose of the installation process? I mean besides maybe the Windows Registry. However, for practicality and usage purposes, it’s possible to have a single, independent, stand-alone program that can be run, stored on non-volatile storage, and accessed via the file system of whatever device it’s on, and executed on the OS.

So what’s the big deal with all the “install this” business if many great programs of virtually any magnitude can work perfectly without going through an installation configuration? It puzzles me a bit, and aside from a database or other metadata/access configuration systems, what is the real difference here if the latter (an installed executable) performs and works in the same way as a stand-alone?

Is there a difference here I’m unaware of with a non-installed program versus an installed one?

PS: This doesn’t just have to apply to Windows OSes, but any that implement a similar function.

獨立的可執行檔案和已安裝的可執行檔案之間真的有那麼大的區別嗎？還是它們比我們想象的更相似？

答案

超級使用者貢獻者Wyatt8740為我們提供了答案：

Brief answer: a stand-alone exe requires no libraries be installed on the computer to run, and requires no registry entries or other components.

An installed file can be a stand-alone in an installer package, but is generally dependent on a variety of components and libraries installed alongside it.

In many cases, through the use of Universal Extractor (unofficial update: here), you can extract the contents of an installer and run a program without administrative privileges in Windows. MSI installers can be unpacked with les**si.

In most other operating systems, all programs can be run without root/administrator privileges, through user-specific ‘bin’, ‘lib’, and other directories in the home directory. Personally, I despise installers the majority of the time, because they make it harder for me to use programs without administrative privileges when I don’t have them. But they are packaged that way by large companies to simplify the process for the average end user.

雖然我們已經瞭解到，可以提取和執行一些我們喜愛的軟體作為獨立的可執行檔案，但有時為了在我們的系統上使用我們喜歡或需要的程式，我們無法逃避舊的“久經考驗的”安裝過程。

有什麼要補充的解釋嗎？在評論中發出聲音。想從其他精通技術的Stack Exchange使用者那裡瞭解更多答案嗎？請在這裡檢視完整的討論主題（包括大大擴充套件的答案）。